fu2 tau4苦頭苦头
Jyutpingfu2 tau4
Yalefú tàuh
Definition
Pain, suffering, or hardship that tortures the mind or body.
colloquialemotionpeople
How it's used
Often paired with the verb 食, as in 食苦頭, to describe the experience of undergoing hardship or facing the negative consequences of one's own actions. It carries a sense of paying the price for a mistake or enduring a difficult process that could have been avoided. Unlike general words for pain, it specifically highlights the bitter lesson learned through adversity.
Examples
He really suffered a lot when he was young.
Related words
Common phrases
Common mistake
Do not confuse this with the adjective 苦, which describes a literal bitter taste. While 苦頭 implies suffering, it is a noun phrase and cannot be used to describe a flavor or a simple feeling of sadness.
Grammar color guide
Noun
Verb
Adjective
Adverb
Pronoun
Classifier
Particle
Connector
Grammar guides
- Directional complementsThe small words added after a verb to show direction of movement, like up, down, out, in, and back. Common in everyday Cantonese.
- DemonstrativesThis and that with 呢 and 嗰, the personal pronouns, and how 哋 turns I, you, and he into we, you all, and they.
- Resultative complementsSticking a result word onto a verb to show how it turned out, like eat until full or look and find. A productive everyday pattern.
